Weather across the nation: 10/3/12

Cold air poured into the northern U.S. as a trough of low pressure dipped into the Northern Rockies and moved into the Dakotas on Wednesday.

This system triggered snow showers across Montana and Wyoming and caused temperatures across the region to drop into the 30s by the afternoon. Meanwhile, the leading edge of this system brought a combination of rain and snow showers as it pushed into the Dakotas.

Snowfall totals from this early season winter storm have ranged from 3 to 5 inches in the mountains, while most lower elevations areas saw around 1 inch of snow. In addition to snow, strong winds accompanied this system with gusts ranging from 50 to 60 mph.

Elsewhere, showers and thunderstorms continued across the Southeast from the Carolinas through Florida as a frontal boundary lingered over the region. The low pressure system associated with this front brought more scattered showers to the Great Lakes and parts of the Northeast.

ON THIS DATE....... On this date in 2000, a non-tropical system developed over South Florida and dumped 15 inches of rain over a 33-hour period. Thousands of houses received flood damage and lost power. The system eventually moved away from Florida and then became Tropical Storm Leslie on the 4th.